Rodeo

Guess where I am! I just told you - the rodeo! The tooele bit 'n spur! Good times I tell you. I came with my friend stacy.

FDT

This is my first fdt ever! It wasn't a success but at least I had good company! We're at apollo burger in wx. Related to crown and atlantis - for your fdt information.

Color

Yes - those chairs ARE red and purple. They beg the question why. I have seen no others - just these two, arranged in friendly conversation at a cheap wannabe wood round table by a 3 cent copy machine. The 3 cent may be my absolute favorite part of this whole arrangement. Where in this world, these days, do you find such cheap copies?
I'm out of class early today - a miracle? Possibly. Especially since I was popping zingo mints to try to keep awake.
Last night I stayed up too late visiting with a friend on the double-lane slide at the elementary school on my street. We wondered if we were looking at stars or planets. We figured with so much light pollution of the city it would be impossible to really see stars. Who knows. It was nice to lie on a slide at night looking at the sky with a good friend. We need more summer nights in the world just so we can find more peaceful moments like that!

chocolate

i'm a fan. so is my niece. this photo was irresistable.

Commute

Today I feel like a commuter. I'm on trax - just as if I lived in a big city. Except, you'll notice, my trax car is a tad empty. I'll pretend. I'm off to woth jordan to attend a 3 day conference on professional learning communities. I preach that you should always set a purpose so you get something out of "learning" opportunities. I'm still trying to come up with one for myself. Maybe it's because I really would rather be shopping, or doing something wasteful

Flags

Okay, I know i've had a rough week myself, but I have a hard time believing those flags are at half mast for me. The bugging thing is that not all of them are half mast. I've only noticed about half are. Half half mast. Anyway, I think when anyone can put their flag where they want then we've got a problem. We need rules and they need to be followed. At least some consistency would be nice.

today's weirdness

i'm sitting in the computer lab at weber state. the guy across from me keeps talking to himself and randomly makes arm gestures as if he's talking to someone while on stage. it's odd. it's distracting.

earlier i was using the facilities. female facilities i should point out. and one of the stalls needed flushing - but the weird part is that the seat was up. no tp had been used. AND it was the handicapped stall. anyway, i thought it was weird.

now to head to class. i bet that's all the weirdness i'll have for today. it's good to have a bit every now and then.

i sell my beer beer beer every day!

okay, not really. that's just a reference to an old favorite song from roosevelt days. i just wanted to post a couple photos of me from arts fest with my team of beer/wine sellers. one of our volunteers likes to take photos - she was kind enough to send them to us. did i tell you how glad i am it's over? yep. i'm glad. it was a long hard weekend.

Next

Well one more man in my life has decided to opt for someone who is not me. I would think it was bordering on funny if it wasn't so predictable. i'm getting a reputation for having a good attitude and being able to bounce back. That's a good thing, right?

Done

I am through with this view - finally! It was a long weekend. I have mixed emotions about it. I can't say i'm looking forward to doing it again next year. It seemed to last an eternity. I was lucky, though to see lots of good shows, and meet fun new people, and have plenty of good friends visit.

What's this?

I think I know! Can you properly identify this sickly looking stuff? I found it on the sidewalk at liberty park.

Celebrity!

I'm working arts fest again - good times! This evening as I was hanging out at my friend's beer booth, this famous slc resident came through and bought a lite. I felt a bit paparazzi trying to take a discrete photo without being seen.
Speaking of celebrities.... Earlier in the day I worked with a guy who claims to be donny's cousin.

Wildlife

Sometimes on my morning walks I see wildlife. I wish I knew what happened to this particular specimen. Sad.

Father's day

yesterday the family gathered at ma's for ham dinner. We had two deserts and burned funeral potatoes. I invited jeff and vanya - first for me to invite two guys at once to a family dinner. Vanya did really well to bond without me, especially since he got the time wrong and was a half hour early. The cool part was taking ma outside around the lawn to see ma's father's day gift of an ash tree. We hope it lives for her. We discovered a couple sick purple robed locusts in the yard, unfortunately. It was a day of mixed emotions - but no tears at dinner, luckily. Oh, and the sisinlaw announced a baby on the way!

finally

guns germs and steel is finally on my list of "read" books. hooray! it was way good, but the last 100 pages seemed like a big repeat of the rest. i plowed through it anyway to say i did it and in case something new and exciting was revealed. i can't say i caught anything new and exciting but maybe i was plowing too fast. please forgive me if you felt the last 100 pages were the best part ever. and please let me know what you loved about it. in the mean time i'm reading hamlet. for class. i'm impressed with how much i like it so far.

Cold

Argh! My classroom is as cold as the bus! At least I facilitated. On the bus ride I saw a red winged blackbird out the window. It made me happy!

Bus day 2

Today i'm venturing back to ogden on the bus. I have a couple complaints: 1) it's stinking freezing cold! 2) I have to go to the bathroom. I think I have another 5-10 minutes to endure.

who am i?

Take the Quiz here!

thanks again to cindy for great blogging ideas! i love jane austen.

Plush and sparkly

It's going to be a long bus ride - blogging passes time.

I'm happy to report uta has upgraded their #55. This summer we've got new plush seating and a sparkly floor! My window creaks a bit but at least it isn't open blowing cold air in my face.

Bus stop

At least there are really nice little purple pansies at my bus stop. Today is my first day taking the bus to weber state for my last (hopefully) english class. I love love riding the bus yet I bet if gas were cheaper or if I had to pay for my bus pass I might not do it. I'm such a typical american.

Dinner

Part of the week long family festivities involved my uncle chily coming over and cooking the family 9 (for luck) authentic chinese dishes for dinner. He's married to my mom's sister. My mom's brother (and some of his family) and my mom's mother (who we call plain old grandma) were all in attendance. In total we fed about 30 people. This is where he did his cooking.

Funeral

Dad went to the cemetary in the back of his old ford truck. Last night we found ourselves remembering how he liked to give people rides in it. So for his last ride we thought it fitting to give him a ride in it. As an fbi agent he was honored with a police escort. It was really a very neat day all around.

Hair report

I got my haircut yesterday. Ma and I went to the local overpriced salon. I'm not thrilled with how short it is. The back is even shorter. I'm sure i'll survive. We're having a family photo on thursday night since we'll all be in town.

Rose

Look what I found on my car this morning. It didn't fall from the sky. I wonder who put it there. I got home after 11 and am leaving around 6. The neighborhood watch couple are nosey enough and kind enough to have done so but maybe it was just an accident. A perfect coincidence.

Bath

Here are the siblings bathing father. Despite his withered state he's still heavy. He kept saying ayeyaeyae while they moved him around.

Family fun

So the siblings are gathering at the parents'. I was hungry so my sis in law made me food - hot dog covered in cheese. Then my sis in laws and I went to costco to stock up on food. My niece came with us. As you can see she loves spinach. When we got home dad was all situated in his new bed in the family room. We take turns sitting by his side. My sis in law that served me the hotdog got my some tylenol for my headache. She wound up giving me a tylenol pm and so i had to take a nap from 4:30 to 6:30 but i was still groggy until about 8. It was kind of hilarious.

Wind

I love it. The comfort of a gentle breeze. It always reminded me of god's love. And I think it's cool that you can't take a picture of it. Sometimes you can see it, though. Like here at the huntsman center you can watch the fields of grass move like ocean waves. I like that.

Huntsman

So this is where i've been spending a lot of my free time. I think there are 5 bags of something hanging on this tree hooked to my father. Antibiotics and fungicides and platelates and i'm not sure what all. it's just the usual monthly stay at "hotel huntsman."

Construction

My school is undergoing major construction. I'm not sure what this is but it's been in my way for months.

super cool jetty

a friend sent me these photos from his jetty trips - i think they're super cool! obviously the water level was a bit lower.

more jetty

here we are posing at the end of the jetty. i think jeff's photography skills are better than mine - i like how he got the reflection of the water. we discovered it was a lot easier to walk beside the jetty than actually on it as sand is easier than rocks for keeping your balance.

spiral jetty

yesterday i went to the jetty for the third time in my life. i loved it. of course. it's a cool place. it's worth the drive. i think. certainly not every weekend. i was sad because this time all the worn out vehicles marking the parking place were gone. i was sad. at least there were better signs to get us there. i saw a short-eared owl, a curlew, and a bunch of pelicans whose flapping wings made the coolest squeaking sounds. i didn't take any photos, but here are a couple from the first time i went - september 2002.

nonblogging

so i get a bit disappointed when my friends are slow to blog new entries. this morning it occurred to me that i haven't put up a new entry in nearly a week. talk about motes and beams, eh? trouble is, i can't think of a single story to tell. i watched lost last night. it made me depressed. i'm not sure if it was the story, or the fact that i have to wait until january (i think that's when it comes back) to see what comes next. it's all depressing. you know what else is depressing? being soooo close to the end of the school year, but still having a week left. i can taste it but it's not really here and it makes me anxious. i have a fun weekend planned, so there's good stuff to look forward to, but still i have to endure all of today and tomorrow. ugh! i have 0 patience at this point. yep, that's how exciting my life is - so exciting even i want to be moving on.

i do want to mention, though, that i robbed plewe again. the quote she posted by rick steves was so good that i printed it off and used it in my class. we've been reading a bunch of literature by modern authors growing up in colonized countries where there was either apartheid or some extreme degree of inequality. anyway, this literature has led to discussion about culture. plewe's travel quote was so profound in what it had to say about appreciating cultures that i made the kids read and analyze it. one kid noticed the extremely peppy positive attitude rick has in regards to travel and the opposite cynical view of the authors we've been reading. he's a sharp kid. i hope he grows up to be a sharp adult. right now he likes to color his hair random shades of pink/blue/purple. he works at the local car warsh.

robbing plewe

it's inevitable - plewe is full of great wisdom. so when we were discussing work yesterday by email she made a good analogy. i found myself sharing it later in the evening with another sarah we know from days gone by. so when i checked the blog this morning i decided it must be shared! see if you don't agree with me....

work is good! it's just like shoes- you've got to find one that's steady, got some cushioning, and can hold up for the long haul. if not, you'll just get blisters and sit down halfway up the mountain. :)

warnings and such

this morning we had a fire alarm. i sat at my computer. i debated going into the hall, but then i'd feel dumb not leaving the school or feel dumb leaving the school late or dumb for not leaving or feel dumb looking at everyone else feeling dumb. so i stayed in my room wishing the painful noise would stop. they've designed fire alarms to be so painful that it forces you out of the building. maybe they're not painful enough.

it made me think of the mormon documentary on pbs of late. there was a scene where they showed a painting and then dallin oaks commented on watchmen on the tower. we are to be watchmen. we should warn people of impending danger. we should heed the warnings from the watchmen. maybe the world has tuned out all warnings. at least i did so today. then the vice principal came on the intercom and announced that it was a false alarm. maybe there are lots of false alarms. i guess it's important to be self educated on the dangers of the world so that you know which alarms are false and which ones are true.

rings

big sisters like it when they get new little sisters to play with. maybe when she's older they'll be able to play barbies or something, but for now it's just hang rings on the feet.

for dainon

okay, so some of these results are just plain ridiculous. i kept drawing a blank on who my friends were. plus, i stole this from cindy's blog so i had certain people on my mind. some are just toooootalllly true, and others are so silly i laughed hard.

What You Really Think Of Your Friends

Dan is your soulmate. You truly love Al. You consider Ed your true friend. You know that Plewe is always thinking of you. You'll remember Sacha for the rest of your life. You secretly think Mark is creative, charming, and a bit too dramatic at times. You secretly think that Lynn is colorful, impulsive, and a total risk taker. You secretly think that Dainon is loyal and trustworthy to you. And that Dainon changes lovers faster than underwear. You secretly think Cindy is shy and nonconfrontational. And that Cindy has a hidden internet romance.

What Do You Think of Your Friends?

Bug guts

Take another look of the self portrait. Can you see i'm grimacing? It's because earlier a bug got stuck in my eye ball. I basically was blind for most of the outing - but the fun and love of friends was enough to make me forget to mention it in my last post.

Jubi day!

Tonight my friends and I celebrated jubi - my favorite swiss man ever! He's warm and kind and funny and smart. In honor of jubi we (jubi, lynn, and emily, and I) hiked to the living room behind red butte gardens. There were lots of pretty flowers and greenness all around. On one of our breathing breaks I saw a little shell. It seemed so out of place I took a photo.
After the hike we met up with mark, who planned jubi night, for dinner at rumbi's - one of best fast food joints i've discovered ever!

911!

yesterday i had some medical drama occur in my english class. a student was getting up to present her book report and as she did so she twisted her knee just enough to pop the knee cap out of place and land on the floor in pain. she claimed to be unable to move. i sent a student to the office to summon our resident emt type person who diagnosed it as a dislocated and then relocated knee cap. the girl went home, leaving the class to eat her doughnuts she'd brought for a visual aid. she emailed me last night to apologize for the disruption and to ask if she could give her book report on friday. kids these days!

family party!

in other party news... last week we celebrated multiple bdays. two of my sisters have bdays in april and three (at least) in-laws have bdays in april. not to mention there are two or three niece/nephew types in april, as well! i like my family!

party!

saturday night my friends and i did not celebrate cinco de mayo. instead, we celebrated the birth of vanya! he turned 30 and whined all night about being old - keep in mind that everyone else in the room was at least 33. we humored him and had a good time.

drugs

once again i have been lured in by cindy's blog to post a personality assessment. thank you cindy!

Your Personality Is Like Ecstasy

You're usually feeling the love for the world around you - you want to hug everyone. And while you're usually content to sit back and view the world with wonder... Sometimes you're world becomes very overwhelming and a little scary.

What Drug Is Your Personality Like?

Cops!

I seriously woke up at 1:11 am to the sound of a baying dog and men's voices in my back yard. It turned out they were in my driveway to be exact. Finally, after listening to them for 15 minutes, and trying to see what they were doing, I went out and asked if I could be of assistance. Apparently 3 guys robbed a local shop (i think he said it was called wizards and dreams) and fled through my neighborhood, choosing the corner fence between my garage and the neighbor's house. I can't remember if they said the suspects were captured, but they did say they'd be gone soon - just gathering evidence I think. Very cool and a bit scary. The dog is now done barking so I think i'll be able to go back to sleep.

les mis

last night i finally saw for my first time ever the musical, les mis. i was moved. i cried. i hurt. i danced in my seat. what a great show! and what a great message! i've been studying shakespeare's sonnets for a class lately and have been impressed with the challenge of writing poems that work rhythmically as well as rhyme. in that light, thinking about the musical last night, i'm doubly impressed. you should all see it! now i want to read it!

fingernail polish

ha! the spanish teacher just came by room to ask me a question about fingernail polish. he was excited to see i was on my prep and then introduced his topic by saying he had a girl question. i was a bit nervouse. apparently his daughter has a bottle of polish that is too thick to use. he wanted to know if paint thinner would help out. i told him i didn't think so. then he asked how much a bottle of nail polish costs. hello - they're cheap! or should be. so he decided to just buy her a new bottle. seriously, that has to be the oddest "girl question" i've had to answer at work, ever. anyone know of a better answer, by the way?

Road trip

Plewe kindly took photos of the fun ride down. There's her and danielle (sacha's there too - she just didn't make it in the photo) and me driving. Right after provo we passed one of the worst eye sores in the world. Draped down its sides were banners announcing durian juice as the king. I was a bit scared. The drive home was much less exciting as sacha returned with others and plewe and dan slept while I learned about the fine art of hunting from jeff. Oh, we talked about other stuff too.

Delicate arch

My last day in moab was spent visiting a look out spot for delicate arch. Ed, audrey, danielle, and I hiked up a little hill and had lunch under a tree. The arch was pretty far away but still impressive. On the hike back I noticed lots of pretty desert flowers.